Garment-supporting device.



No. 801,619. PATENTED OCT. 10, 1905. J. W. STOGKWELL & R. COATES. GARMENT SUPPORTING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC.15, 1904.

JOSEPH W. STOCKWELL ANI) PAYHOND OOATES, OF JACKSON, MICHIGAN.

GARNIENT-SUPPORTING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 10, 1905.

Application filed December 15,1904. Serial No. 237,047.

To all wtmit it nt/zy concern:

Be it known that we, JOSEPH W. STooiiwnLL and RAYMOND Coa'rEs, citizens of the United States, and residents of Jackson, in the county of Jackson and State of Michigan, have invented a new and Improved Garment-Supporting Device, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

Our invention relates to a device designed for use in supporting garments, and especially designed as a combination trousers-button and drawers-supporter, although it is to be understood that the usefulness of the device is not strictly limited thereto.

Numerous inventions in the line mentioned above have been made; but they are all open to certain objections. Many of them require special manipulation to apply them to a garment. Others are so arranged as to be easily detached after being applied, and as a usual thing they are heavy, clumsy, and too expenl sive for general use.

It is the object of our invention to overcome these objections and at the same time to produce a device of the character described which will efciently serve its purposes, which may be easily attached and detached, butl tlOH f.

which will not become detached accidentally,

and which will be simple in construction and l cheap to manufacture.

two reverse hooks for supporting the garments and one or more hooks for securing it to one of the garments, all made out of a single piece of wire.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying' drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure I is a perspective view showing one l form of our invention as it appears when in I use. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same, showing the garment to which it is attached in cross-section; and Figs. 3 and 4 are perspective views of other forms in which our invention may be embodied.

It will be observed that in all the forms shown the device is constructed of a single piece of wire, and this is responsible for a part of the simplicity and cheapness of the article; but it is to be understood that it could These results we preferably accomplish by making a device having be constructed in other ways and still embody l are always parallel to each other and during the chief features of the invention.

The forms of the invention illustrated comprise a hook a, preferably formed by bendportions and shapes, on account of the wire being' bent in different ways before it is taken back toward the point c; but in all it is bent downwardly on both sides to form resilient bars a, substantially parallel with the main body portion. These bars are provided with upwardly and inwardly inclined ends `nl, constituting hooks for entering the garment and preventing its being lifted therefrom.

In the form shown in Figs. l and 2 the main body of the two parallel wires is bent downwardly at the point f, then inwardly to form the hook l and outwardly to forni a pair of barsf parallel with the portion a and preferably in the same plane therewith. This brings the wire up to a loop g near the por- In the form shown in Fig. C) the parts e and 7" are substantially parallel with each other, but not in the same plane, the barsf being mounted upon the rear surfaces of the parts e, so as to make a more compact device. As the parts]u ascend beyond the portion y, they are preferably provided with loops lt, which give additional resiliency, and if they extend above the top may be used to move the hook I away from the bars my to permit the garment to be easily inserted.

In the form shown in Fig. i the parts e andf are substantially the same as those shown in Figsl andQ; butin theloopdanadditional coil is provided, which adds to the resiliency of the device in a manner well understood. From the point y the wires extend in parallel relation with each other, so as to constitute the bars m., which are located in parallel relation with the main body 7;, and at a distance therefrom.

It will be understood that from the extreme end of the tongue of the loop a to the hooks n the wires of which the device is composed most of their course are in contact with each other, especially 1n the forni shown in Fig. 3.

ing the wire together at the center and giving' The bars m, however, in all the forms are sepa- IOO rated from each other a distance about equal to the width of two wires of the main body This provides for the securing of the hooks n into the garment at a distance from each other sucient to enable them to securely hold the device. If they were in contact with each other, they would have hardly more effect than a single hook, and while a single hook would secure the device under ordinary circumstances and while we reserve the right to employ such a construction we prefer to employ the two hooks separated from each other and both exterior to the main body of the wire on the other side of the garment. It will be understood that the hooks n could also kbe spread farther apart, so as to provide a greater surface for the fastening of the device to the garment, and that the separation of the hooks from each other prevents the swinging of the device about any point as a center and also reduces the danger of tearing the garment. It will be seen that it is necessary for the bars m to have a certain amount of resiliency with respect to the body b in order to permit the bars to be bent back far enough to allow for the insertion of the garment. This is secured in all of the modifications illustrated, and the loops z, and 7c afford increased resiliency over that provided for in the other forms illustrated.

In the use of the device the bars m are drawn back from the body b sufficiently to permit the insertion of a garment-as, for example, the waistband of a pair of trousersbetween the ends of the hook n and the body b. The device is then slid downwardly to the position shown in Figs. l and 2, and upon the release of the bars m it will be readily understood that the hooks n will engage in the gar-- ment and securely hold the device in position against any lifting tendency on the garment or any weight of the garment. Furthermore, the application of any weight to the hook a, as by the engagement thereofl with a strap on the drawers, will not result in the sliding of the device downwardly upon the trousers on account of the bent portion c, which is substantially horizontal and will engage with the top of the waistband.

While we have illustrated and described certain forms in which our invention may be embodied, it is to be understood that it is not strictly limited to these forms, but can be constructed in other ways in accordance with the scope of the claims.

Having thus described our invention, we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. A garment-supporting device, comprising a main body portion, a hook projecting from one side thereof, an inverted hook on the opposite side ofthe body portion, adapted to suspend a garment, and means at the rear of the first-mentioned hook for rigidly securing the device to a garment or the like; said means comprising a hook resiliently mounted with respect to the body portion.

2. A garment-supporting device, comprising a body portion, a resilient bar substantially parallel therewith and spaced therefrom, a hook on the bar projecting toward the body portion, a hook on the body portion on the side opposite the bar, and an inverted hook on the body portion.

3. An article of manufacture, comprising a body portion having a hook at its lower end and extending to one side thereof, a top portion extending from the body portion on the opposite side from the hook, a second hook in an inverted position extending downwardly from said top portion, a bar extending downwardly from the top of said inverted hook, means for resiliently connecting said bar with the top portion, and a hook on the lover end of said bar projecting upwardly and toward the body portion.

4. An article of manufacture, composed of a single piece of wire, a bend being formed at the center of said piece of wire, the two parts of the wire extending upwardly from the bend to form a body portion, then rearwardly from the upper end of the body portion, thence downwardly therefrom to form an inverted hook, and from the extremity of this hook upwardly again to the upper end of the body portion, thence downwardly upon a line parallel to the body portion but spaced therefrom, and each of the last-mentioned downwardly-extending portions of the wire being provided with means for securing it to a garment located at its lower end.

5. An article of manufacture, consisting of a single piece of wire, and comprising a hook formed at the center of said piece of wire, the wire being bent upon itselfl at the extremity of said hook, the two parts thereof extending parallel to each other upwardly from the hook to form a body portion, rearwardly from the upper end of the body portion, thence downwardly therefrom to form an inverted hook, and from the extremity of this hook upwardly again to the upper end of the body portion, then downwardly upon a line parallel to the body portion but spaced therefrom, and each of said portions of the wire being provided with a sharpened upwardly and inwardly inclined hook at the lower end of said last-mentioned downwardly-extending portion.

6. An article of manufacture, composed of IOO IIO

downwardly alongl a line parallel to the body portion, and each end of the last-mentioned downwardly-extending portions ot' the wire beingprovided with means for securing it to a garment.

T. An article of manufacture comprising a body having a hook on one side thereof, a portion extending' from the body on the opposite side from the hook, a second book in a reverse position extending from said portion in a direction toward the end of the body upon which the first-mentioned hook is located, a bar extending from a point beyond 

